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Topic: ULLadu Narpadu - 106 (Read 1032 times)

Before we move to Michael James's comments on Verses 17 and 18,I should mention here my thanks for David Godman's translationsof all Padamalai and Guru Vachaka Kovai verses under this topic.His two books are the source for all postings in English.

Michael James comments:

The fundamental difference between the experience of sages such asBhagavan Ramana, who know themself to be the one Infinite, andundivided self-conscious being and the experience of those of us,whgo imagine ourself to be anything other than this one Infiniteand undivided self conscious being, which is our true and essentialself, lies only in the limitations that we imaginarily superimposeupon our true infinite being. This fundamental difference is expressed in Verses 17 and 18 of ULLadu Narpadu.

That which limits a finite being is only its form, because its formdefines its extent in time and space, and thereby separates it from all other forms. If we are a definite, we are limited within the confines or extent of the form, but if we have no definite form, we are unlimited or infinite.

Because we imagine ourself to be the form of this body, we have seemingly limited ourself within a certain time and space, and hence we feel ourself to be separate from everything that exists outside this limited extent of time or space. Moreover, because we imaginethe form of this body to be "I", we mistake it to be real, and hence we mistake all other forms that we perceive outside that body is to be real.

Since Bhagavan Ramana and other sages teach us that we are notthe body that we imagine ourself to be, and that the world is not real as we imagine to be, it is reasonable for us to infer that suchsages do not experience their body as "I" or this world as real.Why then does Bhagavan say in these two verses that to sages,who are those who have known themself as they really are, theirbody is "I" and the world is real?

To understand why He says this, we have to understand the exact meaning of what He says in the second half of each of these twoverses. In Verse 17, He says that for sages, "I" shines devoid ofany limit, boundary or extent, thereby implying that in their experience "I" is the infinite reality that is the essence or truesubstance of everything, INCLUDING THE BODY. Similarly, inVerse 18, He says that for sages the reality is the formless substratum, foundation or base that supports the world, thereby implying once again that in the experience the reality is the oneessence or true substance that underlies everything, INCLUDINGTHE MATERIAL FORMS OF THIS WORLD.